


A Bottle of Gin

by Zuko_of_Asgard



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Another Self-Indulgent Fic, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Jealousy, Keith Can't Deal, Keith is Salty, M/M, Maybe Possibly Pining Lance, No One Knows of Keith's Crush, PINING KEITH, Pidge/Keith BROTP, Slow Burn, emotions are hard, will update tags as I go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-24 10:02:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8368147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zuko_of_Asgard/pseuds/Zuko_of_Asgard
Summary: No one ever told tales of the emotions and the fear leading up to the main event, not one spoke of the pain or the suffering. Instead, adults filled the children’s heads with mindless drivel that romanticized and simplified the single most puzzling and terrifying emotion that could be experienced. Love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this at 3:13 AM and I am tired, so sorry if this is all over the place. I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender.

One has to wonder, or rather, **he** has to wonder what it is like to love someone so wholly that one would willingly put their heart out on the line and trust, **hope,** the one who holds their heart wouldn’t dare break it – he wonders what it is like to love the one who completes you and have it returned. To be together with someone like that, the thought of it happening to **him,** sets his heart racing and ignites a longing that wishes to be achieved with his **own** special someone. But no one had ever said that love was anything **but** happiness and roses.

No one ever told tales of the emotions and the fear leading up to the main event, not one spoke of the pain or the suffering. Instead, adults filled the children’s heads with mindless drivel that romanticized and simplified the single most puzzling and terrifying emotion that could be experienced, making everything seem like all would be sorted on its own without both participants striving to make it work – but the real world wasn’t a fairy tale, it wasn’t sugarcoated, not **everyone** lived happily ever after. Love was a farce: parents were supposed to **love** their children, to devote their lives into caring for them, making sure they grew up right. Friends were supposed to **love** you for you and not their idealized version of you. And you, you were supposed to **love** yourself for being the one and only you, for being unique, because, at the end of the day, no matter the circumstances, you were the only one you had – Keith had never been loved, abandoned at different points in his life, tossed aside like yesterday’s trash.

Never have loved was a different story.

There’s a beautiful boy he’d fallen for, skin a warm copper and hair a soft mahogany with eyes the color of the deepest ocean. The boy was odd at times, often loud and abrasive, but beyond that, he cared and he loved deeply. Or so Keith was able to surmise from afar – the closest he’d ever gotten to being loved was one fleeting moment, one that the boy had forgotten, or claimed to.

It hurt.

And it angered him.

They were in the middle of a war with the entire universe’s freedom on the line, he’d been beaten, shot, stabbed, but none of those had hurt worse than seeing **Lance** flirt with every pretty thing that so much as **breathes** in his general direction. Love was irrational and it made people reckless. But dear lord did he adore the Cuban boy and his annoying jokes – he dodges a swipe from the Gladiator, getting well out of reach to catch his breath, but in the milliseconds he watches the machine turn gracefully on its heel and charge towards him, he lets his guard down, deciding somewhere within the recesses of his mind that physical pain was much easier to deal with than the ache in his chest.

He shuts his eyes and takes a steadying breath, letting his body tense and wait for the hit that was likely to come – it doesn’t, instead, he hears the sound of a familiar weapon being shot followed shortly by the falling of a metallic body. Opening his eyes, he sees the Gladiator lying dead at his feet seconds before it disappears into blue pixel-like figments, the momentum it had having carried it towards him. Staring at the empty space, he holds back a sigh and lets his bayard disappear, he fights the urge to slump his shoulders.

“Guess who just saved your ass!” Lance boasts, holding his weapon carelessly in one hand and approaching the Red Paladin, “Me! That’s who ~ !”

“I didn’t need **or** want to be saved.” Keith frowns; he finally decides to look Lance head on and sees the familiar look of irritation slip onto Lance’s features and the tension beginning to set his shoulders.

“Oh really?”

“Yes, really.”

“So what,” Lance begins, “You just decided to **let** that thing win?”

“More or less.”

“What’s your problem?”

“Look, Lance,” Keith sighs, hating himself for savoring the Paladin’s name, “I’m – I’m tired, okay.” he starts to walk, “You want the training room, it’s all yours. I’m done.”

“Wait, Keith!” and like a fool, he stops, “Are – dinner’s in ten minutes.”

Keith stares at nothing in particular before giving a shrug, “Okay.”

Going off of his earlier train of thought, he’s terrified because **everyone’s** left him at some point and the thought of being attached, actually in a loving relationship, scares him to death, he’s afraid that if they **do** somehow start something that Lance will see what he’s really like and leave, and – he isn’t sure he could handle that, he **loves** Lance but he knows he has no chance with the other. Not because of the Blue Paladin’s preferences, he and the rest know Lance is bi, the guy having told them, but because of the fact that Lance simply hates him, or rather tolerates him. Shiro and the others assure him that Lance doesn’t, in fact, hate him, after every fight he and Lance have. Keith finds that hard to believe, but if they want to console him, then so be it, after all, none of them have any clue as to why it **bothers** him so much.

Shiro assumes Keith simply wants to be Lance’s friend, Pidge thinks he’s more annoyed than anything, and Hunk, Hunk merely offers apologies on Lance’s behalf.

Letting the door to his room close, he locks it and simply stares at the empty room. Shutting his eyes, he grits his teeth and lets the tears loose, hot on his cheeks as they fall. These feelings are confusing, they scare him, they make him sick, he hates them – he doesn’t want them anymore. Looking at the ceiling through blurry vision, he lets his back thump against the door before sliding down, biting his lower lip and sniffling, doing his best to keep the whimpers silent.

**oOo**

Feeling vibrations on his back, he stirs, slowly coming to consciousness when he feels, more than hears, someone knocking at his door. Wetting his lips, he lets out a grunt. The person on the other side of the entrance surprisingly hearing him.

“Hey, Keith,” it’s Hunk, “Allura wants us all to meet in the control room.”

Keith rumbles, “Suit up?”

“Yup,” Keith can hear the smile in Hunk’s voice, he never knew how much he wanted a hug until then – of course, he’d never ask, he’d rather stew in his torturous pride, “Just for safety precautions, y’know.”

“’kay.”

“Sweet. See ya there.”

Waiting and listening to the fading of Hunk’s footsteps, Keith finally forces himself to his feet and starts about making himself look like he **wasn’t** crying like some broody teenager over relationship woes. Even if that’s what he was – lack of relationship aside. Exiting his room, he secures his chest piece and makes his way for the aforementioned meeting place.

Upon entering the room, he’s greeted by the sight of Lance sleazing it up with Shiro, the latter politely smiling even if it makes him uncomfortable. Frowning, Keith moves to stand next to Pidge, out of everyone at the moment, he likes her more.

“What’s going on?” Keith asks once he’s standing at her side.

“I dunno.” She grumbles, Keith finally looks down at her and sees that her hair is disheveled and her mouth twisted into a scowl, “But it better be important, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Keith feels the corner of his mouth pick up, “Me neither.”

Pidge looks up and smiles toothily at him, she offers up a fist, “Team Insomniacs?”

For the first time in what feels like forever, Keith smiles and bumps fists with her, “Team Insomniacs for the win.”

This gets a brilliant grin from the younger Paladin, an amazing sight that is cut short when Lance rudely butts his way into their little bonding moment.

“What’s going on gu~ys?” Lance grins, draping himself over Pidge who tries to shake him, it doesn’t work, resulting in the Green Paladin subjecting themselves to their fate, “Having a secret meeting or something?”

“Even if we were, why would we tell you?”

“It wouldn’t be all that secret if we told you, now would it?”

Both Keith and Pidge blink at one another, having both talked at the same time, Lance only huffs and removes himself from Pidge’s personal space, narrowing his eyes at Keith and crossing his arms:

“Oh I see how it is,” Lance starts, “You’re trying to steal my friends, aren’t you.”

Keith sighs, “Lance - ,”

“Come on, Pidge,” Lance sniffs, picking Pidge up like one would with a stuffed animal, “Let’s go before he corrupts your mind with his mullet, or something.”

Keith glares and Pidge opens their mouth to retort when Allura finally enters the room, her appearance cutting off everyone’s conversations. Including Lance’s ridiculous antics. The Cuban releasing Pidge and immediately flinging pick-up lines the Princess’s way, flirting that goes ignored by the others, even Allura – flirting that cuts into Keith’s chest, leaving an angry mark in its wake.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, Paladins,” Allura starts off as she approaches the large glass window, “But I had to ensure that we were welcomed within the planet we will be stopping at for some much needed supplies.” she reaches up and presses a finger into thin air, the _window_ zooms in on a little blue planet, “This is a trading hub planet and we will be there in approximately fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes?” Hunk starts, “But it looks so - ,” they sort of _whoosh_ closer, “Never mind.”

“Coran and I have made up a list of what you will all need to get, and seeing as how we don’t need anyone causing trouble, we will need you all to pair up.” Allura presses a few quick buttons, “Shiro, seeing as how you’re less likely to cause trouble, you’ll be going alone. Here is your list and what district you will most likely find them in.”

“Oh,” Shiro takes the list in hand, “Seems easy enough.”

“Pidge, Hunk, you two will - ,”

“I’m not going with Lance.” Keith states coldly.

All eyes fall on him in surprise, including Lance’s:

“Dude!” Lance squawks, getting over his initial shock, “What’s **your** problem?!”

“My **problem** is,” Keith snarls, glaring at Lance, “- your flirting with everyone you see! I don’t want to do all the work while you waste your time talking with some alien you’ll probably never even see again!”

Lance scowls, “Oh, I see what it is now! You’re just jealous!”

“Jealous!?” Keith shouts, “Jealous of what?!”

“Jealous that I’m way better at talking to people than you!”

“Why would I be jealous of that?!”

“Because people love **me** better than your gloomy ass!”

Keith startles, jolting back as if he’d been struck, the surprise only holds for so long before anger resurfaces with a vengeance, “I don’t **care** if people love me or not! I don’t **need** love, I’ve gotten along just fine **without** it! And how can I be _jealous_ of something I’ve never even wanted even once in my entire life!?!”

“Keith,” Shiro starts, Keith can see him reaching out for his shoulder.

The Red Paladin pulls away, glaring at the man with a feral sneer ruining his features, “Don’t.” he turns his scowl onto Allura, “Either I – no, either I go **alone** or I don’t go at all.”

“Really?!” Lance snaps,

_“Lance.”_ Hunk hisses.

Lance barrels on, Hunk going ignored, “You’re going to start pitching a fit **now!?”**

“Oh, trust me.” Keith sneers, “It was a long time coming.”

“Alright!” Allura snaps before Lance can get a word in edgewise, “Enough!” she turns a softened gaze to Keith, if unnoticed, “Keith, you may go alone, Shiro, please give Keith your list, you’re with Lance. Now, if that’s settled, everyone get to work.”

**oOo**

“I can’t believe him!” Lance shouts, throwing his arms in the air, “Seriously! What crawled into his mullet and died!? What happened to _Oh Lance, I cradled you in my arms!?!”_

“I thought you didn’t remember that.” Shiro says as he leads the way.

“I don’t!” Lance huffs, “But he seemed to think it was a big deal!”

Shiro can do nothing but frown, not really sure how he can interpret anything, and if he could even give Keith’s back story away without his consent. Which seemed unlikely now that he was currently on a raging bender, although he did have a **few** theories as to why his friend was slowly reverting to his previous state of behavioral patterns, but each seemed unlikely as well as too alarming to think about any further.

“Shiro,” Lance starts, “You knew him before we got abducted into space, was he always this crazy?” Shiro gives Lance an unimpressed stare, “What?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This changes P.O.V so much, I'm sorry if anyone has trouble with that :I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, I haven't felt like doing anything - but here it is, finally. I was going to say something important but I forgot. If I made any mistakes please feel free to tell me. I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

Brain pounding against his skull, Rolo holds his breath as he looks out from around the corner at several Galra drones and a single soldier, standing in the middle of the street as crowds of aliens flow around them, the residents and patrons keeping their head low and gaze to the ground. They’ll get no help here if push comes to shove. As he’s ducking back into their alleyway cover, he spots a familiar face, or rather, familiar **faces** – the two kids from Voltron. The yellow and green. Before he can question their reasons for being here, he notices the lump of purple in his peripheral moving in their general direction. And he watches, his mind going through several possibilities and outcomes, pros and cons, fight or flight instincts.

“Well?” Nyma prods under her breath, “Are they gone?”

Beezer beeps and chirrups in question as well.

For a fraction of a tick, he wonders what they’re talking about before his body is forcing him out of their hiding place; he’s cupping his hands in front of his mouth just as he hears Nyma hissing what _are you doing_ at him accompanied by startled beeps from Beezer:

“Hey!” he shouts, all eyes fall on him, he watches recognition form on both of their faces, he knows he’s attracted the Galra’s attention as well, “Galra incoming!”

The recognition and distrust falls from their expressions, their eyes immediately search out the crowd and pull out their respective weapons. A flash of purple zooms towards him, a hand grabs the back of his blue vest and yanks him back in time for the shot to harmlessly hit the red sandstone building to his left.

Chaos erupts.

“Are you crazy?!” Nyma all but shouts, all Rolo can do is offer a grin.

**oOo**

_Maybe Keith was onto something with his earlier protests about pairing up with Lance_ Shiro thinks as he’s now currently the one with arms crossed and watching in bemusement as the Blue Paladin spits out line after line of face-palm worthy pickup lines – sure, at first Lance had been strictly business, muttering about proving Keith wrong, but after a group of powder blue, feminine looking aliens passed by, all giggling and talking behind their large three fingered hands, the boy cracked like an egg under pressure.

“You must be a criminal, because looking that fine **must** be a crime.”

Oh dear Voltron.

Their communication link to the others crackles to life, pulling Shiro’s attention away from Lance’s progressively confusing pickup lines and dragging Lance’s attention away from the pretty powder blue aliens:

“We’re under attack by the Galra!” Pidge’s voice soon cuts into the static, the screams and faint sounds of blasters being fired serving as background noise, “They know we’re here!”

“What?” Shiro startles, “How?”

Pidge huffs, “I don’t know!”

“Guys, Rolo’s here.” Hunk starts, “I think it’s safe to say **he** has something to do with this.”

“Rolo!?” Lance pantomimes, “What’s he doing here!?”

“Do you think – maybe he followed us?”

“Talk about it later.” Keith snaps, “Where are you guys?!”

“The food district.” Pidge answers flawlessly, “Better hurry too; I think they called for backup.”

“Alright. We’re on our way.” Shiro affirms, him and Lance already running for their location, “Stay low and make sure no one gets hurt. Especially Rolo, make sure he doesn’t leave your sights.”

“Right.” both Hunk and Pidge sound out.

“Allura, Coran,” Shiro and Lance exit the district they’d been at in time to see **dozens** of Galra ships beginning to dot the skies, “Galra are - ,”

“We heard.” Allura stresses, “And we already know.”

Coran answers a second later, “There are two Galran ships approaching us.”

**oOo**

After cutting their connection with the others, Hunk and Pidge rush to where they’d last seen Rolo before he narrowly missed being shot. The Yellow Paladin sure that the purple alien had something to do with the Galra finding them on this seemingly out of nowhere planet that dealt mainly in travel and trade. With Pidge providing cover with the shield, they make it to the mouth of the alleyway in relative safety where they’re greeted by a sardonic retort.

“As if things couldn’t get worse.”

“Hey!” Pidge snaps from near the entryway, “We’re here to protect you guys!”

Not wanting Pidge and Nyma to continue their verbal jabs, Hunk interrupts, “What are you guys doing here? The last time we saw you guys, you were stranded on some purple moon-planet.”

“Well, long story short, after our **failed** attempt at trying to steal your lion to bargain for our freedom, the Galra picked us up, demanded to know your whereabouts, and promptly threw us in their holding cells, which we escaped, in case you were wondering.”

“Obviously.” Pidge huffs after Rolo’s little story.

Rolo only grins, “Obviously.”

“And now we’re fugitives.” Nyma adds.

Beezer beeps, backing up their story.

“So,” Hunk feels his face scrunch up, “You guys didn’t like – follow us or something?”

Rolo snorts, “No. We may be bounty hunters but we’re not stupid.”

“Oh.”

**_BOOM!_ **

An explosion goes off too close to their cover, the splash sending debris and dirt flying in all directions, showering the group in rubbish. The four cough and swipe at the air whilst Beezer fans the dirt away from their general area – their com crackles to life:

“I’m here.” Keith’s voice fuzzes, “Where are you guys?”

“We’re in a nearby alley.” Hunk answers. The Yellow Paladin looking beyond Pidge in an attempt to locate his other friend – he spots Keith just as the Red Paladin seems to be gearing up for a fight. “Keith.” warns Hunk, “Don’t even think about it!”

Keith’s grip on the sword tightens, “I got this.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” a hand grabs his shoulder and keeps him in place, “Are you crazy?!”

“We’re going to have to split into groups.” Shiro says without missing a beat. Settling into a crouch beside Keith and Lance. The Blue Paladin having been the one to keep Keith from charging blindly. “There are Galra on planet and in orbit. Keith, Lance, you two will help Allura and Coran fend off the Galra in space.” Keith frowns but nods along with Lance. “Pidge, Hunk, you’re with me. We’ll take care of the Galra on planet.”

“Gotcha.”

“Alright – **hey!”**

Keith hears a short struggle over Hunk’s side before a new voice speaks, “Listen I know we didn’t part on good terms, but we’re willing to help in any way we can – ,”

_“We’re?”_ Lance interrogates, scowling, “Who’s involved in this _we’re_ business?”

Rolo drawls, “Nyma and Beezer.”

“No! No, no, no!” Lance snaps, “We are **not** that desperate!”

“Uh, **news flash** Lance,” Keith hisses, he gestures towards the skies swarming with Galra pods landing on the planet’s surface, “We **are** desperate. We need all the help we can get.”

“Rolo,” Shiro begins, “Do you think you can help Lance and Keith?”

“Sure, just gotta find a jet. Won’t take long.”

“Nyma, can you fill in for Pidge?”

Nyma sighs, “I don’t have a weapon, but yeah.”

“Alright. Pidge, you and Beezer round up as many people as you can that are willing to fight. Okay?”

“Sure, whatever,” Pidge rushes, “Can we get a move on before there’s **nobody** left to save?”

“Right. Everybody be careful.”

**oOo**

“Alright, where’s your stupid jet?” Lance asks once they exit the grocer district.

“Don’t have one.” Rolo says as he scans the surrounding area, “’s why I said I gotta **find** one.”

Keith frowns, “What happened to yours?”

Rolo sighs, “As much as I love that piece of junk, it’s a piece of junk.”

“Well where do you expect to **find** a jet!?” Lance exclaims, throwing his hands out in a swooping gesture, “Did you expect to find one just **lying** around in the streets collecting dust?!”

“Look,” Rolo exhales through his nostrils, “I know where to find a couple of crafts just _lying around_ ,”

“But,” Keith continues, “There’s a catch.”

“Depends on how you feel about stealing.”

Lance squawks, loud and aghast, “What?! No, no way am I stealing a - !”

“Well, if it’s for the good of the many, I’m in.”

_“What?!”_ Lance gawks at Keith, “Keith! You can’t be serious!” Keith shrugs. “Dios mio. You’re **serious.”**

“You don’t have to come.” Rolo says as he starts running, Keith following a stride or two behind, “Red and I’ll just swing back and pick you up once we got the jet!”

_“Red?”_ Lance hisses under his breath, watching the two enter the district Lance was sure was the _residential area –_ letting out a growl, he runs full sprint after them, “Oh like **_hell_ ** you will.”

**oOo**

Staring at the deactivated drone’s body, Shiro picks up its weapon and promptly hands it to Nyma; he meets her eyes, giving her a stern look:

“Do you know how to use this?”

“Well,” Nyma starts, holding the weapon a lot easier than before, “When you’re on the barrel’s end of things constantly, it’s kind of hard not to learn a thing or two.”

“I **expect** not to get shot in the back.”

“Same here.” Hunk tacks on.

The daffodil colored alien narrows her eyes but says nothing more as Shiro keeps his stern gaze on her a second before turning on his heel and leading the way towards the screams and lasers coming from a nearby sector of the district. Nyma looks to Hunk who in return gestures for her to follow with his own weapon. A large intimidating thing. Now outwardly frowning at the two humans, she hoists the gun higher in her hold and follows after their supposed leader, she could deal without all of this thinly veiled animosity and distrust – granted, she **did** try to steal the blue one’s lion, but Rolo was also in on that ploy. And Beezer.

She begins wondering if her cohorts were being treated with the same amount of suspicion.

**oOo**

Running through the cobblestoned streets dividing the sandstone buildings with Beezer at her side, Pidge swivels her attention from left to right in hopes of finding signs of life, and so far there was nothing. Diverting her gaze to the robot rolling along at her side, she can’t help but feel a little frustrated as it can’t really swivel itself, although it’s one eye is looking around – sighing loudly, she frowns down at the little bot:

“Don’t you have some sort of life scanner built into you?”

Beezer’s triangular pupil looks up at her, letting out a curious sounding beep.

“You know,” she gestures with her hands, she stops, stopping Beezer as well, “A scanner that lets you see where people are through buildings? Kind of like thermal radar? Wait, do aliens even have - ?”

Nearby screams and blaster fire drags her from her quickly derailing thought; she starts running once more, gesturing for Beezer to follow. Following the chaos just by the sound alone, they stumble upon a scene with drones firing upon a small building that looks oddly like a convenience store, all the while advancing their range. Soon, whoever is inside, firing at the drones, will be overpowered. Pursing her lips, she looks around the area for anything that could help, but as far as she can tell, they’re in the middle of some sort of plaza.

“We need to get inside the building.” exhaling, she holds her bayard higher and aims it at the nearest drone, “Looks like I gotta borrow a page from Keith’s book.”

Shooting off her bayard, she watches the blade like ending pierce the drone’s chest, successfully catching the others’ attention, letting the force of her makeshift grappling hook pull her and the drone closer, she lets her feet slam into the back of the metal Galra, pulling her blade from its back and landing on her feet. She readies herself as more droids head towards her, before she can attack the closest, Beezer comes rolling in, hitting the drone and sending it toppling into the others. Blinking, Pidge isn’t allowed time to process what happens before the robot grabs her and starts hightailing it for the convenience store.

The doors open just as they’re near. Looking around the shop, she sees kids, some elderly, and adults, male and female. Behind her, she can hear the aliens blockading the entrance.

“Uh - ,”

“Who are you?” the alien shooting the weapon asks.

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron.” she answers, sitting atop Beezer’s head. She hears murmurs of _Voltron_ and _who_ so it seems that some of the people here know about Voltron. “I’m here to help.”

“Where are the rest of you?” a nearby alien asks, she looks fluffy and gray with noticeable hips.

Pidge’s first thought being _Lance would definitely like her._ “The rest of my friends are fighting the Galra. I’m here to ask if anyone would be willing to help us, right now there are too many for us to fight off, so we’re spread thin as it - ,”

“I will help.” the alien shooting the blaster says.

“You will?” Pidge watches the alien sit up straighter, the sounds of blaster fire dying down.

“No more.” another alien informs from the window.

There are sighs of relief from around the room.

“Yes. My people never back down.”

Pidge nods, she turns to the others, “Can the rest of you gather everyone willing to fight?”

“We’ll do what we can.”

“Great.” she turns to the completely white alien with red eyes, “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole 'daffodil' thing with Nyma is a reference to my friend who posted a little thing on tumblr calling Rolo her favorite lilac flower alien and then calling Nyma a daffodil alien. Yup.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment, kudos, or not :L


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